Outsourcing protests too??

Last few days, most of the print and electronic media has been playing the Anna Hazare card to the hilt. Coverage of the hunger strike was on minute by minute. And finally when it ended with Anna taking a glass of juice from a little girl, victory was declared. Victory?

Two observations which call for a debate...

1) Protest by Anna and subsequent "support" by people of India.

2) What are the implications of this form of protest?

As Anna decided to sit on hunger strike against the Lokpal bill, he was joined by a motely of celebrity supporters, some of whom decided to sit alongside him. And we had multitude of Cyber savvy people trying to garner support by clicking yes/like etc on multiple Social networking platforms. Many of us were inundated with requests to like/support the cause. Kind of cyber peer pressure to be a part of the movement. A few celebrities also threw in their hats in the ring by announcing support for Anna. There was a daily ticker on how many are supporting him cyberally (if I can use this word)... Running into tens of thousands.. With some terming the cyber instance as a Tsunami support for Anna.

And I am thinking, some decide to go into physical form too conducting silent gatherings/candle light march etc. How many did take part there? Not more than hundreds.. But not a shade to the number who participated cyberally (using the word again).

Why is the physical part far lower? Is it due to the effort required? Does this point to a issue where we are very participative in anything which does not require additional efforts from us? It is always easy to click a button of the mouse/track pad, that too while chatting up with a few friends in the comfort of home/office. Is this a new trend of outsourcing your thought process to a few social networking sites? You do not like something; you click a button to protest... You like something; you click again. But when required to physically move yourself, make an effort to be a part of the activity, there is no time.. No time from the daily chores, no time from hectic work schedules, no time from networking with friends in the cyber/mobile world. I will click, someone else would do it for me.. Great outsourcing model.. (me thinks this is a great business model too). This is the root of the issue which led to Anna forsaking food for some days.

Why is Anna protesting? Why was it required? Whatever the outcome of the protest, the root cause of this activity itself needs to be questioned. Why was it required? This govt was elected by us. We empowered those guys against whom Anna was leading the protest. We elected them, didn’t we? And once we have put them into power, we protest their ways? Politicians are a very predictable breed, we knew at the time of election on what they are capable of.. By protesting now, we are slapping ourselves.... Is this not a tacit admittance to the fact that we did not bother to do anything at the elections? My view on outsourcing works here too. We have outsourced our authority to vote to a few set of people who due to various motivations make the effort to walk across to polling stations to vote.

How many of us exercise out franchise? How many of us are "busy" with other "daily activities" to go voting? How many of us are actually on the voter's list? And then we protest the outcome or support anyone who is protesting. Anna is actually not fighting the corruption in the govt, but actually highlighting the inability of all of us to elect a govt which works for us. Wake up and smell the tea!! And we all are gloating in the so called "Gandhian" style of protest. Protest against the people we elected (or elected by proxy, as we did not vote) and try to showcase it as standing upto forces for a good cause. We are not a middle east country to tout Jasmine revolution. Here, we have elected the govt....

And while Mr. Hazare has every right to protest and garner support, the outcome is continuation of the vicious cycle of not electing the right kind of people and then protests again. Not helping the cause. If we cannot elect right, we deserve the govt we get. While the intent of the protest could be right, the outcome is not conducive for the long term good governance.

Now that everyone at Jantar Mantar/India Gate and other places have packed their bags and gone home smiling, I feel the outcome is not a victory but a way out by the people in power to deflect the issue right now before it gather further steam. This takes out the pressure and helps to ease out the issue over some time. Unless people have the courage to stand up and take action, this would continue.

Looking at our penchant for everything cyber, government should move polling to being an online activity. Maybe, maybe then we would see more of the franchise looking to participate in the election process just by clicking “like” a candidate.